Poetry Tools Sheet

A Surrey Teacher's poem - I will always be a teacher

Michelle Mirabueno, a Grade 1 teacher at Woodland Park Elementary in Surrey, wrote this poem in response to the news of ‪#‎ChristyClarksLockout‬

I will always be a teacher

You may try and cut our wages
Threaten, bully and scare
Without stepping in our classrooms
To see why we fight and care

I will still teach all my students
I love the job I do
I teach my children to stand up for themselves
When they cross paths with bullies like you

We will not back down in defeat
We will not let this go
You make a mockery of what we do
Turning it into a media show

My classroom is not for sale
I will not sell out the children's needs
For every child is worth the fight
Despite the trouble this may lead

I wish you had the teachers
Who would have fought for your needs too
Because somewhere down the line
A teacher helped you become you

I will always be a teacher
I will always fight the fight
To ensure the children of our world
Can learn what's wrong from right

So when they grow and make a choice
Of what they'd like to do
Surely one of them will have more integrity
To do the job in place of you

Poetry is still important...

High school poetry suffers from an image problem. Think of Dead Poet’s Society's scenes of red-cheeked lads standing on desks and reciting verse, or of dowdy Dickinson imitators mooning on park benches, filling up journals with noxious chapbook fodder. There’s also the tired lessons about iambic pentameter and teachers wringing interpretations from cryptic stanzas, their students bewildered and chuckling. Reading poetry is impractical, even frivolous. High school poets are antisocial and effete.

... poetry enables teachers to teach their students how to write, read, and understand any text. Poetry can give students a healthy outlet for surging emotions. Reading original poetry aloud in class can foster trust and empathy in the classroom community, while also emphasizing speaking and listening skills that are often neglected in high school literature classes. 

It is true. Poetry is often the unit my students least look forward to because it is thought of negatively. I like to open the unit with a modern song loaded with metaphors and other literary devices. This shows them poetry is still relevant and, if I am being honest, pretty awesome!

Read more of this article at the source (link below)

Source

Poem for Teachers: Pushing My Buttons

Pushing My Buttons

I pushed the little button to summon the elevator
Since I was in a hurry, I needed it sooner, not later
I waited and waited and waited for the elevator to arrive
I pushed the button once, then twice—three times, four times, five
But it never did arrive, you see, and so I took the stairs
A better source of exercise for anyone who dares
And then I got to thinking of the students in my class
Pushing my buttons every day, pushing hard and fast
And there I go reacting and their “elevator” arrives
They’re riding up, they’re riding down, and I’m the one with hives!
I wonder if I stopped arriving, if they’d have to take the stairs
I could silence their conniving—the answer to my prayers!
And so I’ll start tomorrow; my buttons I will hide
And when they see I won’t react, another they’ll try to ride
So here’s advice to all of you—the teachers who react
Don’t let them know your buttons work. They’ll stop pushing—that’s a fact!


There is a great blog post about this poem here: http://eyeoneducation.com/Blog/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2873/How-One-Simple-Poem-Changed-a-Teacher39s-Life#.UWVxOVfZV8E

Band Aid Poem

Page Poetry

Source: mamascouts.blogspot.com via Amanda on Pinterest

I did this at SFU when I was in teacher training. I took an Art class and we did this with random pages of newspaper, magazines and old books. We then painted and decorated the page to fit the 'poem' we created. Awesome activity I had forgotten about!

Poetry for all

When introducing poetry, I often hear the moans of discontent. Why?

Poetry carries some kind of stigma of being "useless" and "not important" and "difficult"

Well... yes... I guess for some those are true. But my goal when teaching poetry is to make it none of those things.

A starter to poetry that I used last year while teaching Grade 9s was to let them go through poetry anthologies, or online, and find 5 poems they liked and answer a few questions about why they liked them. This helped put poetry control back in their hands.

Another way to introduce poetry is by playing a song or letting them choose a song and bringin song lyrics. Most are surprised at how many literary devices are used in songs.

My teacher friend who I taught with last year used "My heart's a stereo" as

Here are some links to sites with poetry lesson plans for all ages:
http://www.favoritepoem.org/lessonPlans.html

http://home.cogeco.ca/~rayser3/poetry.htm

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/composing-cinquain-poems-quick-51.html

http://www.educationworld.com/a_special/poetrymonth.shtml

www.teachingliterature.org/.../pdf/poetry/poetry_deshotels.pdf (Grade 10 unit but adaptable)

Last year I did this post with some poetry ideas for TTOCs and classroom teachers.

Poetry Jam

I am in a temporary highschool English position until the end of the year and I am planning the poetry unit. I came across this awesome site with some poetry infused mini-lesson plans, activities and classroom management strategies.

I love poetry and trying to make it fun for students, so these activities were right up my alley. They are great for classroom teachers and TTOCs who are in for a day or more.

Poetry in the classroom:

Icebreaker:
Before students arrive, write your favorite short poem on the board.

•

As students enter the classroom, direct their attention to the poem. Explain to them why this poem is important to you. Point out the language and imagery that the poet uses and explain why it appeals to you. If the poem reminds you of a particular feeling or experience, share that with the class as well.

•	Ask volunteers to tell the class about poems they enjoy. (If students are stuck, remind them that song lyrics are also poetry.) Encourage students to tell what they like about their favorite poem. What do they think of when they read or hear it?
•	Then point to the poem on the board and ask, "Are you sure this is a poem? How do you know?" Invite students to brainstorm answers to the question. List student ideas on the board.
•	After students generate a short list of poem characteristics, ask students to work in pairs or small groups to think of more poems they like. Where do they see and hear poetry? How is poetry used in the world around them?

Stress Reliever:
If the intensity level gets high, you might want to encourage relaxation and good listening skills by having periodic "poetry breaks."

•	Invite students to get comfortable and listen as you read a soothing poem.
•	Encourage students to pay attention to the images in the poem. Ask them to visualize the scenes and feelings that the poem describes. You can also have students sketch what they "see" as they listen to the poem.
•	Ask volunteers to share their ideas and drawings with the class.

Poetry Bank:
Create a poetry bank in the classroom! [or as a TTOC on your USB drive or binder/bag of tricks] Collect books of poetry and copies of poems and lyrics that students might enjoy. The class can use these poems as models and read them when they have free time.

Ask the school librarian for suggestions. Good starting points include:

•	The Norton Anthology of Poetry by Margaret Ferguson
•	100 Great Poems by Women by Carolyn Kizer
•	The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes by Langston Hughes
•	And Still I Rise: Poems by Maya Anglou What Is a Poem, Anyway? Materials: research materials, tape or CD player, and audio recordings What is a poem? Invite students to think about this question. Encourage them to use textbooks, library books, and other sources to help them explore. • Write the question on the board, and ask the class to brainstorm a list of ideas. • Divide students into pairs or small groups. Give each group a different writing sample. Examples include: a journal entry, a narrative poem, a limerick, a letter, an e. e. cummings poem, a short biographical sketch, and several jazz and hip-hop songs. (If possible, provide students with lyrics and recordings.) • Have each group work together to decide whether their writing sample is a poem. Ask them to list reasons for their conclusion. • Have each group present their ideas to the class. • Finally, write a class definition of the word "poem." Cracking the Code: Materials: a poem of your choice Choose a poem that has lots of interesting language and imagery, such as Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" or Rudyard Kipling's "If." Then invite the class to work together to "crack" the poem's "code." • Distribute copies of the poem or display it on the overhead projector. Ask students to work in pairs or small groups. • Ask students to use what they know to answer questions such as: What type of poem is this? How can you tell? What is the poem about? How does the poet feel about the topic? What point is the poet trying to make? How does the poet use language? Can you find rhymes, alliteration, similes, or metaphors? What kind of images does this poet use? What do you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel as you read it?

This site has many more great, simple ideas to try. Read more on TeacherVision: http://www.teachervision.fen.com/poetry/curriculum-planning/6218.html#ixzz1wKDVDcri